Truck



K. J. UNWIN Tnucx Filed Feb. 2o, 19:51

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.Inventowm Kenneth J. Unwin,

Attorney.

Patented Apr. 19, 1932 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KENNETH J'. UN WIIIN, 0F SCHENEGTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL'ELEOTRIC COMPANY, .A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK i 1 TRUCK Application filedFebruary 20, 1931. Serial No. 517,273.

This invention relates to an improved truck of the type wherein theplatform is adapted to be adjusted vertically and also to be tiltedangularly.

.e 1V hile the truck may be used to move various types of articles, itis particularly adapted for moving desks from one room into another. Asteel oiice` desk l is very heavy, weighing about 400 pounds, and inmoving leV these desks in or out of a room great difculty has beenencountered in getting the desks through the doorways, due to the factthat the doorways frequently are too narrow to permit the passage of thedesks edgewise. l It has hitherto been necessary for two or Vmoreworkmen to turn the desk on a side and moveit through the doorway anddue to the weight of the desk if the men are not careful they barkeither the desk or the door eo frame or both. By the use of my improvedtruck, the desk can be readily and quickly secured to the truck, turnedon its side, and moved through the doorway, all of these operationsrequiringonly a single workman.

The object of the invention, accordingly, is to provide an improved formof truck.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention,yattention isV directed to the following specification and the claimsappended thereto.

VIn the drawings, F ig. 1 is an end view of the truck, a desk beingshown in dotted o utline supported on the truck; Fig. 2 is a side view,in section, of the' truck, the platform bef ing shown in horizontalposition, and F ig. 3

is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2 -showing theplatform tilted from thehorizontal position of -Fi 2, to a vertical position.

eferring to the drawings, there is shown., m a basel which is providedwith supporting Wheels or rollers 2 adapted to rest on the.

ground or floor and whichvperniit the truck 4to be rolled or movedabout. These rollers are provided at each corner of the base and 43 areswivelly mounted in the base in any suitable manner, so that the rollerscan be swung to any angle relative to the base to enable x the truck tovbe moved in any desired direc tion.

A centrallydisposed vertical bracket 3 of 'jects through anopening 22 inthe bracket 3 inverted `U shape is secured in any suitable manner, as bywelding, to the upper side of the base. `.A shaft 4 has one end journalled in a bearing 5 carried by one arm of the bracket lwhile theother end of the shaft is` Journalled in a bearing 6 suitably supportedin ablock 7 which is secured to a diagonally positioned side plate 8forming part of the bracket 3. j 4The outer endof the shaft 4 projectsbeyond ,theI arm of ,the bracket and'is providedwitha crank handle 9 formanually rotating the shaft while the inner end of .the shaft has iXedlysecured to ita bevel gear 10. i/rojecting vertically from'th'e base is asleeve 11in which is journalled a threaded spindle 12. An end thrustbearing 13,is carried by the upper edge` of the sleeve 11 and acts as asupportfor an internally threaded nut 14, the threads of which engagethe threads of the spindle. Concentric with thenut 14 and ixedly securedto itis a bevel gearl 15, the teeth of which mesh with the teethV of thef bevel gear 10. The upper end of the spindle is journalled in abearing` 16 carried by the top of the bracket. v i

As shown in the drawings, the upper end of the spindle isreduced incross-sectionfor aportion of its lengthfand on this reduced portion.there is suitably secured a block 17. Secured to one face ofthe block 17is a substantially Z-shapedV bracket'lS, the lower A horizontal leg` ofwhich is slotted as` shown vat 19 to form the forks V2O. A verticalguide bar 21, secured at one end'to the block y7 pro and is receivedbetween the forks 20in the bracket 18,` the bar` 21 thus acting to.guide the spindler12 in its vertical movement. -At

its upper end the bar 21 is `provided .with a transverse projecting pin23 which s'adapted- 90 to be engaged by: theforks 2O of the bracket 18toy limit the upward movement of the spindle 12, as shownV in Fig. 3,.while the downward movement of the spindle is limited by the engagementof the forks 20 with the topV 95 ofthe bracket 3 as shown in Fig. 2.` yf A transverse shaft 24 is rigidly secured in a bore in the reduced endof the spindle 12, the shaft also passing through the block 17, andprojecting beyond the sides ofthe block. 100

pivotal connection to the platform. Ynuts 34 are provided on the shaftand are*V One end of the shaft projects beyond the block for aconsiderably longer distance than the other end and this longer end isthreaded for part of its length as shown at 25. A. horizontal platform26 is provided on its underside with substantially centrally disposed,spaced, depending arms 27. These arms have aligned hubs 28 formed ontheir free ends,

Which are journalled on the projecting ends of the shaft 24 with theblock 1,7V positioned between the hubs 28 as shown'in Fig. 1. A nut 29is provided onthe threaded end of the shaft 24 and is adapted when moved1n one direction along the shaft to clamp one of the j f nut 33 whichwhen moved along the shaft 24 toward the pivoted side 32 is adapted toabut this sideV and 'move it outwardly about its Lock adapted to holdthe nut 33 in its adjusted yposition on the shaft. Y

As shown in the drawings a plate 35 is provided which bridges the spacebetween Vthe arms 27, and which'is adapted, when the platform is rotatedin one direction on the shaft 24, to abut a padded stop 36 on thebracket 18 to prevent the rotation of the platform in-this directionpasta horizontal position. Similarly, an angle bar 38 carriedV by anedge of the platform'is--adapted when the platform is rotated in theoppositedirection to engage a padded stop 39 carried yby an arm of thebracket 3 to prevent the rotation of the'platform in the opposite di- Irection past a vertical position. Pads 40 are provided on the outerfaces of the depending sides 30 land 32 which grip the sides'of the deskas shown in Fig. 1 when the pivoted side 32 of the platform is movedoutwardly. ySimilar pads 41 are'providedon the top of the platform asyshown in Fig. 2 on which the top of the desk rests, and the pads 41along one edge ofthe platform are provided with upstanding edges 42against which ank edge of the top of the desk abuts.

In use the platform is lowered to the position shown in Fig. 2 and thetruck is moved underv the desk as shown in Fig. 1. The spindle 12 isthen rotated until the platform raises the desk off the floor,and thedesk is wholly supported on the truck. f The nut 33 is then rotated tomove the sides 30 and 32 into clamping engagement with the sides of' thedesk. The .desk is thus supported on they truck'and is prevented from:slipping .on the platform by the clamping action of the sides 30 and 32and the upstanding projections 42. The nut 29 is then loosened and theplatform is rotated on the 'shaft 24 until the platform position withthe desk on its side. The truck can then be readily movedl about "asdesired and the desk can'be easily and readily moved through a doorway,all of this work requiring the services of only one workman.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, vIhavedescribed what I now consider to represent the best embodiment of myinvention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedto the exact vdetails of the construction shown, since various changesor modifications, such as for example making both depending sides 30 and32 yad j ustable relativeto the platform, may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

What I claim as vnew and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the UnitedStates, is,-

1. A truck for moving articles havinga top and spaced sides dependingtherefrom, comprising a base, supporting rollers carried by said base, ahorizontal platform supported on saidbase and vertically adjustablerelative thereto, depending sides onv-saidrpllatform, said platformbeing adapted tol be' positioned in the space between the dependingsides of the article to be moved with the sides of the platformsubstantially parallel to the sides of the article, means for clampingthesides of the platform against the sides of the article to be moved,and meansfor raising and lowering the platform.

l 2. A truck for moving articles having a top and spaced sid-esdepending therefrom, comprising a base, supporting rollers carried bysaid base, a horizontal platform supported on said base and vertically'adjustable relative thereto, depending sides on said platform,one

of said sides being'adjustable'toward and away from said platform, saidAplatform being Aadapted to be positioned vin the yspace between thedepending sides ofthe article to be moved, with the: sides of theplatform substantially parallel to the sides of the article, means formoving the sides of the platform into clamp-V ing engagement with thesides of thefarticle to be moved, andfmeans for raising and lowering theplatform. v

3. A truck for moving articles-having'a top and spaced sides dependingtherefrom, comprising a base, vsupporting rollers .carried by said base,a horizontal platform supported m on said base and'vertically adjustablerelative thereto, depending sides on said platform, one of said sidesbeing pivotally connected to said platform, said platform being adaptedto -be positioned in the space between the sides of the article to bemoved, with the sides of the platform substantially parallel andadjacent to the sides of the article, means for moving said pivoted sideof the platform against. the adjacent side of the article to clamp thesides of the platform against the sides of the article, and means forraising and lowering the platform.

4. A truck for moving articles having a top and spaced sides dependingtherefrom, comprising a base, supporting rollers carried by said base, avertical spindle journalled in said base, a transverse shaft passingthrough the head of said spindle, the axis of the .shaft beingperpendicular to the aXis of the spindle, a normally horizontal platformrotatably journalled on said shaft, said platform being adapted to berotated from a horizontal to a vertical position, means for securingsaid platform in rotated position on said shaft, depending sides on saidplatform, said platform in its horizontal position being adapted to bepositioned in the space between the depending sides of the article to bemoved with the sides of the platform substantially parallel to the sidesof the article, means for clampi ing the sides of the platform againstthe sides of the article, and means for raising and lowering the spindleto raise and lower the platform.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

KENNETH J. UNW IN.

